Pool-ball rack.



G. F. 6088, DECD. L. 1. 6058, ADMINISTRATOR.

POOL BALL RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1917.

1 ,266,012. I Patented May 14, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Witnesses 0f the ealate of 00a Attorneys G. F. GOSS,'DECD. L. 1. coss.ADIMNISTRATOR.

POOL BALL RACK.

7 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. I917- Patented May 14, 1918.

. a llllll Witnesses ofzhe estate of 675. 001)!- Attorneys G. F. @083,DEC'D.

l. I GOSS ADMINISTRATOR.

POOL BALL RACK. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12. 1917.

Patented May i4; 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

by I v i I V ptorneys GEORGE E. GOSS, nEoEAsEn, LATE 0E WALLACETON,PENNSYLVANIA, BY nEoNAEn :I.

" GOSS, ADMINISTRATOR, or wALLAoE'roN, PENNSYLVANIA.

POOL-BALL RACK.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that GEORGE F. Goss, deceased,late a citizenof the United States, residing at Wallaceton,Pennsylvania, invented new and useful Improvements in Pool-Ball Racks,ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to pool ball racks, of the type disclosedin the patent granted to George F. Gross, No. 971,128, dated September27 1910.

- The present invention embodies novel and useful improvements in suchpool ball racks, having means for selectively delivering the balls fromthe pool table to the rack, and such means being improved andsimplified, to enhance the utility and the efliciency of the device.v

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it bein understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without. de parting from'the spirit of theinvention.

; The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

, liiigure 1 is a front view of the pool ball rac Fig. 2 is a sectionaldetail on the line 2-2 ofFlg. 4.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the improved construction, portions beingshown in section.

. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 of Fig. 1. v

Fig. Sis a diagrammatical view illustrating a modification, the stopsbeing electrically controlled.

The pool ball rack embodies a suitable ca-sing ti which is attached tothe end of the pool table, and which is provided with vertically spacedrunways 7 slightly inclined so that theballs will roll to the lower endsthereof, said runways providing compartments for the balls driven intothe pockets by the various players, the balls rolling from the pocketsof the table to an opening 8 into the casing 6 in the same manner as inthe patent above mentioned. The present 1mprovements relate to the meansfor selecis a cross section on the line 5-5 Specification of LettersPatent. Patgnted May 14, 1918. Application filed June 12, 191?. Serial N0. 174,358.

tively delivering the balls from the opening 8 to the several runways 7as will presently appear.

i A vertical transverse plate or partition 9 is mounted within thecasing 6, and is provided with a vertical slot 10 and with cars 11 atits upper end between which a pulley wheel 12 is mounted for rotation. Aslide 13 is movable along the plate 9, and has an outstanding bracket 14projecting away from the plate and upon which is mounted a carrier 15,said carrier being pivoted between its ends, as at 16, to thebracket.The rear portion of the carrier 15 seats upon the bracket, and has a lugl7 projecting through the slot 10,and said carrier has a depression 18.for receiving and holding the'pool ball 19 which enters the casing fromthe opening 8 below which the carrier 15 is movable vertically with theslide 13, said carrier moving between the plate 9 and upper ends of therunways 7 When the ball 19 seats upon the carrier 15, it holds thecarrier seated on the bracket 14, the ball being held in place in thedepression 18. A cord 20. passes over the pulley wheel 12 and has oneend connected to the slide 13, while a weight 20 is fore depress thecarrier and slide to the ex-.

tent permitted.

In order to limit the downward movement of'the slide 13 to bring thefree or forward end of the carrier 15 into coincidence with therespective runways 7 upwardly projecting stops 21, 22 and 23 arepivoted, as at 24:, to the plate 9 at that side thereof opposite to'theslide 13 and runways,.and at one side of the slot 10, and the upper endsof said stops project across the slot 10 to limit the downward movementof the lug 17. The stops 21, 22 and 23 swing toward the slot 10 andacross the same by gravity, and said stops are provided with laterallyopening recesses 25 near their free upper ends to accommodate stop lugs26 projecting from the plate 9 adjacent to the slot 10 to limit themovement of the stops when swung across said slot.

The means for retracting the stops 21, 22 and 23 embodiesa verticalslide or plate 27 disposed at the same side of the plate 9 as the stopsand having flanges 28 at its edges bearing slidably against the plate 9between the front and rear sides of the casing 6. One of the flanges 8is provided with openings 29 receiving cams 30 with which the stops areprovided below their pivots, and said flange 28 is provided with contactportions 31 at the upper ends of the openings 29 and spaced differentdistances above the cams 30, whereby, when the slide 27 is low ered, theuppermost contact portion 31 will first engage the cam 30 of stop 21, toswing the stop 21 away from the slot 10, the second contact portion 31then engaging the cam 30 of stop 22 as the slide 27 moves downwardlyfarther, thus retracting the second stop 22, the stop 23 being similarlyretracted after the slide 27 is moved still farther downwardly. Thus,the stops are retracted in succession, and their cams 30 in bearingagainst the flange 28 will hold said stops retracted until the slide 27is again raised. Said slide moves downwardly by gravity, and hasconnected to its upper end a cord or flexible element 32, which can beguided to a suitable controlling member or knob 32, such as disclosed insaid patent or its equivalent, whereby the players can readily set theslide 27 to proper position. The stops 21, 22 and 23 swing by gravityback across the slot 10 when the member 27 is raised, but should saidstops stick or fail to swing back, they will be forced into place. Thus,the stops 21, 22 and 23 are provided near their upper free ends with camshoulders 33 and holding shoulders 34 extending upwardly from the upperends of said in clined cam shoulders 33, while the slide 27 has pins orlugs 35 projecting toward the plate 9. These lugs 35 move downwardlywith the plate or slide 27, out of the way of the shoulders 34, therebypermitting the stops to be retracted, the cam shoulders 33 moving oversaid lugs 35. Therefore, should any of the stops fail to swing back bygravity across the slot 10, the member or slide 27 when raised, willcause the lugs 35 to contact with the cam shoulders 33, and forciblymove the stops across the slot against the lugs 26, the lugs 35 movingfrom the cam shoulders 33 onto the shoulders 34, whereby to hold thestops in projected position and prevent their accidental displacement.

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing inconnection with said patent, but briefly stated is as follows:

The weight 20 ordinarily raises the slide 13 and its carrier 15, so thatthe carrier is immediately below the opening 8, slightly above theuppermost run-way 7. The ball 19 which has been driven into the pocketin rolling through the opening 8 from the table will roll onto thecarrier 15, which will hold the ball slightly in rear of the pivot 16,and

the ball will therefore, move the slide 13 downwardly, and the ball willmove downwardly with the slide until stopped. When player #1 is playing,the slide 27 remains in normal position, so that whenthe carrier 15reaches the first or uppermost runway 7, the lug 17 contacts with theupper end of the stop 21, thus limiting the movement of the rear portionof the carrier 15, but the slide 13 can move downwardlya little farther,until it contacts with'the lug 17, as seen. in Fig. 2. This willautomatically tilt the carrier 15, whereby the ball 19 will rolltherefrom onto the firstoruppermost runway7 of player #1. The balls ofplayer #1 are thus accumulated on the uppermost runway 7. l/Vhen player#2 is playing, the controlling'member or device is set so as to lowerthe slide 27 the desired amount to retract the stop 21. This will,therefore, let the slide 13 move downwardly so that the carrier 15registers with the second runway 7, the lug 17 now being limited in itsdownward movement by the stop 22, and the ball when lowered with thecarrier and slide being delivered into the second runway. When the slide27 is lowered another step for player #3, the stop 22 in addition'to thestop 21 is retracted, thus letting the slide move downwardly untilstopped by the stop 23, thereby delivering the ball into the thirdrunway, whereas if the slide 27 is lowered still farther, this willretract all of the stops, so that the downward movement of the slide 13is limited by the lug 17 striking the plate9 at the lower end of theslot 10, thus delivering the ball into the lowermost runway. In thismanner, the balls are delivered to the respective runways of the variousplayers according to the position to which the slide or member 27 is setunder the control of a knob or other suitable member. 1

As shown in Fig. 6, electrical means are employed for retracting thestops instead of the mechanical means above described, including theslide 27. In this modification, the upper ends of the stops 21, 22 and23 have the armatures 40 under the influence of electro-magnets 41, 42and 43 carried by the plate 9, and push buttons or other suit-' ableswitches 44, 45, 46 and 47 are provided on the table or any othersuitable place to be pressedby the. players, the switch 44 being a dummyor false one, since the stops need not be retracted for the player #1.If desired, a plurality of sets of switches can be provided, they beingreadily connected in parallel, it being perfectly obvious that anynumber of switches for the same player can be connected in parallel forclosing the respective circuit, and these sets of switches can beprovided at various points of the table for the convenience of theplayers. The electrical circuit, as illustrated, embodies'a battery 48or other source of electrical energy connected by a common conductor 49with the switches 45, 46 and 47 and the other pole of the battery isconnected by a common conductor 50 with each of the electro-magnets. Aconductor 51 is connected to the magnet 41 and each of the switches 45,46 and 47; a conductor 52 is connected with the magnet 42 and each ofthe switches 46, and-47 while a conductor 53 connects the magnet 43 withonly the switch 47. 'Thus, when the switch 44 is operated, or when noneof the switches are operated, this being unnecessary for player #1, thestops remain in place, whereby the lug 17 is stopped by the stop 21.When switch 45 is closed, this closes the circuit including said switch,conductor 51, magnet 41, conductor 50, battery 48 and conductor 49. Themagnet 49 is, therefore, energized to retract the respective stop 21.When switch 46 is closed, this will not only close the circuit throughmagnet 41, but also close the circuit through the second magnet 42,since the switch 46 also connects the conductor 49 with the conductor 52of magnet 42. The stop 22 as well as the stop 21 are, therefore,retracted, whereas when the switch 47 is closed, this will connect allthree conductors 51, 52 and 53 with the conductor 49, thus energizingall three electro-magnets and retracting all of the stops.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A pool ball rack having vertically spaced runways, a vertical plate,a slide movable along said plate and having a ball carrier to registerwith said runways, means for raising the slide when unoccupied, movablestops carried by said plate for limiting the downward movement of saidslide, and means for retracting the stops in succession and holding themretracted.

2. A pool ball rack embodying vertically spaced runways, a verticalplate having a slot, a slide movable along said plate at one 45 sidethereof and having a ball carrier to register with said runways, meansfor raising the slide when unoccupied, movable stops carried by saidplate at that side opposite to the slide and extending across said slot,said carrier having a portion projecting through said slot to be stoppedby said stops, and means for retracting the stops in succession andholding them retracted.

3. A pool ball rack embodying vertically 55 spaced runways, a verticalplate, a slide movable along said plate and having a ball carrier toregister with said runways, stops pivoted to said plate to limit thedownward movement of said slide, and means for swinging said stops outof the way and holding them retracted in succession.

4. A pool ball rack embodying vertically spaced runways, a verticalplate having a slot, a slide movable along said plate, a carrier pivotedto said slide for holding a pool ball, said carrier having a lugextending through said slot, means for raising the slide when thecarrier is unoccupied, stops pivoted to said plate at that side oppositeto the slide and projecting upwardly across said slot to limit thedownward movement of said lug, and means for swinging said stops awayfrom the slot in succession and holding them in retracted position.

In testimony whereof, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presenceof two Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

